The blackthroat is closely related to another of the world's most enigmatic birds, the firethroat (pictured below).

The firethroat is also a type of robin, or 'chat' - small slender songbirds related to the thrushes.

It inhabits similar forests in China, and has also been spotted in Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

As the names imply, male blackthroats have a black throat, breast and side of the head, whereas male firethroats have a striking red throat and breast, referred to as a 'shining'.

A 2013 study by Prof Alström and colleagues confirmed that blackthroats and firethroats are separate species.

Songs of both species can be heard below.

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, about 10 individuals were collected at two locations in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces between May and August, during what was thought to the bird's breeding season.

Since then, there have been very few records of the species, the bird being occasionally sighted in China and Thailand, with a few specimens appearing in markets that trade birds.

The blackthroat is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and almost nothing was known about its behaviour or breeding.

In a bid to relocate the bird, a team of scientists based at the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, visited six national parks in central China, targeting habitats they thought it might frequent.

Since then, they have managed to spot blackthroats, including a breeding female, on numerous occasions within three locations, as well as a nest with two chicks.

Many of the birds were found living in forests inundated with bamboo.

In total, 58 adult blackthroats have now been observed since the species was first discovered in 1886.

An elusive firethroat photographed at Sichuan University, China

Though "eight of these records, between 1931-2000, have no documentation, and can therefore not be verified," cautioned Prof Per Alström from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, a leading member of the research team.

As well as the two chicks most recently spotted, four recently fledged birds were sighted in 1886.

The robin remains elusive, and the scientists admit they would not have noticed the birds had they not been singing.

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"The song is beautiful and varied," write the researchers in their latest description of the robin's rediscovery.

"It consists of short, varied strophes that are delivered at a fairly slow pace, with pauses of a few seconds between each strophe. Many strophes are rather simple and consist of a few whistled notes."

The robin also appears capable of mimicking the sounds of other birds, including the grey-headed woodpecker, Chinese sparrowhawk, spotted nutcracker, and Eurasian jay.

Male blackthroats can mimic other birds

Their studies have dramatically increased our understanding of the blackthroat.

For the first time, the experts, led by Fumin Lei from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof Alström, who is currently studying in China, confirmed what a female blackthroat looks like; being uniformly grey-brown, with a black bill and paler underside, characterised by a buffish-grey throat and breast.

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The discovery of a breeding pair also confirmed that both parents care for their young, feeding their chicks flies, butterflies and other insects and arthropods.

Blackthroats may be more common than previously thought, as the latest study discovered more individuals than had ever been recorded previously.

Its habitat may also be less threatened than feared.

The Qinling Mountains in China are home to other enigmatic species, including giant pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys and golden takins, a relative of the goats and antelopes, whose coat is said by some to be the source of the legend of the Golden Fleece.

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